Exodus
by Sarah Everton
Summary: A planet on the verge of destruction asks Earth for assistance. When the DEO intervenes, Alex and Maggie are left trapped on the planet, fighting to stay alive and struggling to find their way back home.
1. Chapter 1

Alex Danvers' eyes nearly watered at the brightness of her phone, practically blinding her as she flipped it to face her.

The clock on her home screen told her it was a little past three, but the flashing incoming call labeled _WORK_ sobered her slightly, as she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Danvers."

A loud groan came from the other side of the bed, and Alex glanced sideways to see that the figure next to her was waking up. She cursed herself momentarily for not answering the call sooner in an attempt to avoid waking up her wife.

" _Alex, DC greenlit the prisoner transfer five minutes ago. I need you to come in._ "

She immediately straightened her spine, finally waking up properly upon hearing J'onn's words. "I'm on my way."

" _Bring Maggie. We're going to need all the help we can get._ "

Alex frowned at that, but disconnected the call, putting her phone back down onto the nightstand and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Another mumbled groan from the other side of the bed. "Work?"

Alex turned her head again, seeing that Maggie was now looking at her from under the covers.

"Yeah."

"What time is it?"

"Five past three." Alex replied. "J'onn wants you to come too."

"Alright." Came Maggie's slurred response, after a deep breath. "Just… gimme a sec."

Alex smiled, knowing that the best way to get Maggie up and running as fast as possible was to make coffee. She swung her legs off the bed and padded the few steps down into the open space of the living room.

Behind her, she heard the shuffling of covers, indicating that Maggie herself was pulling herself out of the bed too, as the woman disappeared into the bathroom holding a set of clothes.

Honestly, Alex was surprised. Knowing the speed of the DC bureaucratic system when it came to operations and greenlighting decisions and plans, she genuinely hadn't expected the transfer to be okayed so soon.

J'onn and her had even had a friendly bet on the side – which she now officially lost. Guess his faith in bureaucracy did win this battle. She owed him five bucks.

The second she put the two cups of freshly made coffee down on the kitchen island, the door to the bathroom opened and Maggie appeared, fully clothed. Her eyes widened with lust as she zeroed in on the cup that Alex was now nudging in her direction.

Alex moved from behind the island, and leaned forward to kiss Maggie's lips before walking over to her wardrobe to get her tactical gear, coffee cup still in her hand.

One or both of them being called in for work in the middle of the night was nothing new – it basically happened once a week. And the routine of getting dressed and making coffee without all too many conversations had been perfected at this point.

The rule was that whoever got called in and woke up the other one had to make coffee and drive. So Alex had drawn the short straw tonight, not that she minded. She was far too occupied with the mission ahead to even _think_ about sleeping at this point.

When she emerged from the bathroom, clothed and ready to go, Maggie had finished her cup of coffee and looked awake enough to perform her duties.

As much as she loved her, Maggie without coffee honestly wasn't the cop she'd ever want to work with. Her wife was a caffeine addict – as she joked herself so many times – but Alex was glad that coffee existed, because Maggie was a mess without it.

Alex herself preferred tea, but even she couldn't deny the strong attraction to a cup of hot coffee in the night when she was on duty.

"So, what are we doing?" Maggie asked, passing Alex to make her way to the gun safe in the cupboard in the corner and punching in the combination. She pulled out both of their service weapons and badges, and pulled her head out to watch Alex in anticipation of her reply.

"Yesterday, we received a distress signal from a planet thousands of lightyears away. They said that their planet was being overrun by militant forces, some sort of coup. We couldn't find any information on the planet, but in their emergency broadcast they called it Nahrenia."

Maggie silently handed Alex's gun over, and watched as the agent tucked it into her holster and continued. "We tried to contact them back, but our technology wasn't advanced enough. At least, that's what we _thought_. They never responded. But a few hours after we messaged them back, a portal appeared. An alien jumped out, he told us he was Nahrenian. That everyone on his planet was evacuating, and that they needed planets to harbor refugees."

Maggie frowned at that. "If their technology is so advanced that they can send signals thousands of lightyears away, then they'd have found many deserted planets where they could settle instead of coming here, right?"

"Yeah, that's what we said too." Alex nodded. "But they need water to survive, like us, and many of those don't have that."

"Okay, so… Where do we come in?" Maggie asked, clipping her badge to her belt. Alex grabbed her keys and walked towards the door, locking the apartment behind them and following her wife towards the stairs.

"J'onn called the president to ask for her opinion on the refugee matter. She said that she wanted to see the messenger, and possibly negotiate an agreement between our planets. But she had to get the UN involved, and the Nahrenian needs to be transported to DC first."

Maggie nodded. She knew what the rest of the story entailed – the DEO had strict codes and guidelines when it came to transporting alien visitors. As friendly as they possibly were, none of them were left alone for a second while here, because they couldn't risk anything. The alien could attempt to seize control or, on the other hand, something about the Earth's atmosphere could hurt or possibly kill them.

It was just better if there was always someone present. Which is why they needed to transport the prisoner to the private airfield in the desert, to put him on a jet to DC.

"Why did J'onn ask me to be there?" She asked, that being the only thing left unanswered. "… I mean, those transports happen all the time, usually you guys are fine."

"High profile case." Alex replied, as they reached the underground garage. "The President asked for as many hands as possible, she's worried that whoever performed the coup will follow him here and assassinate him, maybe take down a few of ours while they're at it."

Maggie didn't like the sound of that at all.

The two of them got inside their car, as Alex jumped behind the wheel and drove into the National City streets. At this time of night, traffic was a breeze, and it took them less than ten minutes to arrive at the DEO headquarters.

* * *

"Alex. Maggie." J'onn greeted them, turning his head from watching the monitors in the command center.

Alex nodded at him, before glancing up to the screens herself.

There were numbers running across most of them. Another one had a live feed of the Nahrenian messager in a prison cell.

A tired-looking Winn was sat at his desk, staring at his own screen that had numbers flowing by so fast, it almost looked like a scene from the Matrix.

Maggie stayed back, letting Alex take the lead. This was _their_ operation. She was just along to help wherever she could, so she settled on waiting for instructions.

"Any luck on tracing the coordinates?" Alex asked, hands on her hips as she walked up to stand next to J'onn.

"Nothing yet." Winn responded. "But that beacon came from over tenthousand lightyears away, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack the size of one hundred suns."

Alex nodded slowly, turning to J'onn. "What's the status?"

"The jet is being prepped. Should take us a few hours to reach DC, the headquarters over there will handle the rest. We just need to get him to the airfield. The convoy leaves in fifteen minutes – go gear up. You're in charge."

Eyeing the nearly deserted command center – which usually had agents and analysts present 24/7 – Alex turned back to J'onn. "Of whom, exactly?"

"Well, I didn't say I liked their timing." J'onn growled. "DC expects the guy by morning, but Bravo and Charlie are in Alaska for wilderness endurance training. Desert HQ will rendezvous with more men on the airfield, but the ride over there will be all hands on deck."

"Right." Alex nodded, as she ran out of the command center and towards the armory, Maggie hot on her heels.

* * *

J'onn hadn't lied.

Their convoy only existed of three black humvees. The first and last one each had three agents, the middle one had the Nahrenian, Alex and Maggie, and a driver.

As much as she had to focus on the task at hand, it was hard to ignore how absolutely sexy Maggie looked in full tactical gear with an assault rifle clutched between her hands. She wondered whether Maggie felt the same way, but based on the looks her wife was giving her, Alex was pretty convinced that the question had been answered.

"Thank you." The Nahrenian told them, as Alex guided him into the back of the humvee, where Maggie was already waiting. She patted the roof of the car to indicate to the driver that they were ready to go, as she hopped into the last available seat.

The humvees were modified for prisoner transport – there was a separation between the front seats and the back, and the exteriors were completely modified to ensure that the vehicles could take quite a few hits before knocking the passengers around.

It was state of the art technology, and Alex wasn't about to take it for granted. She tapped her comms while glancing up at the screen that separated them from their driver. "All units, this is Trap Leader, cargo is on board, let's get this show on the road."

In front of them, the first car was driving out of the garage. Maggie could see that Alex was painfully vigilant, her eyes darting all around the car and through the windows, trying to catch any sight of potential danger.

But through all of the dramatics of barely having enough agents to assure the messenger's life, Maggie _had_ to ask herself.

 _Where was Kara?_

Neither J'onn nor Alex had mentioned the superhero, and while it would make sense that Kara was unavailable, or perhaps even injured and unable to help, she had to ask.

"So…" She began, eyeing her wife who was sitting opposite her, their knees touching. "… Any chance we'll see our friend in red and blue tonight?"

Alex smirked. She'd obviously waited for the question. "She's on her way. She was up north, trying to get some of her _inside information_ about the situation."

Maggie nodded. It was clear that Alex was being cryptic on purpose to keep their companion from picking up too much of the conversation, but she immediately felt better knowing that Kara was on her way.

She just hoped that the Fortress of Solitude would give them more information on the Nahrenians, because if the UN was about to let a few of them live on Earth – they'd have to know much more about them than just their planet's location.

A long silence settled over them.

"Are you okay?" Alex's question was directed at the alien, who was hunched forward and appearing nervous. His anatomy seemed largely similar to theirs, but much frailer and smaller. It was almost like he had no muscles at all. His skin was also much lighter, almost pearly white. It gave him a sick and weak look – although it could be completely deceiving.

"Yes, thank you." The Nahrenian replied. "My language processor is enabling me to have conversation, for which I am grateful."

"Can you tell us a bit more about the situation on your planet?" Maggie asked.

She kept one eye trained on the window behind him, but she was interested to hear what he had to say. Alex seemed completely tuned out of the conversation, though, as she was talking into her earpiece, communicating with the other vehicles and asking for updates.

"My planet is one of peace and technology." The alien said. "Similar to yours, in terms of architecture. Our great capital city is famous galaxy-wide for its great economic and scientific wealth."

Maggie nodded, watching the man's face turn to sadness. "Our monarchy has reigned over our planet for many generations, ensuring that there was never any violence or unrest. But a few days ago, a ship landed, filled with soldiers. They marched into the capital, and killed anyone they saw. Men, women, even the children. They demanded our Queen to surrender, but she refused. Before they took her, she managed to order everyone to evacuate. They sent me to your planet as soon as they received the response on the distress signal. Thank you for that."

"Yeah, you're welcome." Maggie responded. "We just want you to be safe."

"We're here." Alex said, interrupting their conversation. Maggie looked up to see the barbwired gates of the airfield. "Get ready. This is the weak spot."

As Maggie nodded, Alex tapped her earpiece again. "Trap One, Trap Two, be advised, transport time from car to jet should take less than ten seconds. Repeat – ten seconds."

" _Copy_." Maggie heard two voices repeat in her earpiece. But Alex wasn't done.

"Trap One – go go go. Trap Two – hold position until Banshee is airborne and await further orders."

Maggie watched as the humvee in front of them opened its doors and the three agents poured out, heading for the jet with raised guns.

Alex took a deep breath and turned to their passenger. "As soon as the door opens, you head straight for the plane, okay? We can only take you up the steps, but there are agents waiting for you."

"Okay." The man nodded. "I am ready."

Alex reached for her earpiece and the door handle, and Maggie braced herself for the controlled chaos that was about to unleash.

"Cargo moving!" Alex yelled, as she yanked the door open. Maggie was right behind her, keeping the Nahrenian between their two bodies as they made their way over to the jet. Maggie held her rifle up, looking around for any type of threat.

Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, but everything seemed under control, as Alex led the way up the airstair and practically pushed the man inside.

"Thank you-!" The alien could only say, before another agent inside slammed the plane door shut. Alex jumped down the airstair three steps at a time to clear the way, as the jet roared to life.

"Cargo is inside!" She yelled into her earpiece over the loud sound of the engines. "Banshee is cleared for takeoff, confirm?!"

" _Trap two confirms_."

" _Trap one confirms_."

Alex sighed in relief as she watched the jet pick up speed before lifting off the runway and into the sky.

Their job was done.

She turned back to where Maggie was standing between her and the car, smiling. "Mission completed, Agent Danvers."

Alex made sure her earpiece was muted, before returning the smile. "Let's get back to bed."

As Maggie headed back for the humvee, Alex reached for her earpiece again. "Trap Two, mission complete. Drive b-…"

Before she could finish the order, a loud _bang_ followed by a huge shockwave sent her toppling down onto the ground.

She scrambled to regain her footing, glancing around quickly to see that Maggie was in the same position.

" _What the hell was that?!_ " A voice filled her ears, but she wasn't sure which agent it belonged to.

She responded shakily. "Everyone stay inside! We can't-…"

" _Alex_!"

Maggie's scream made her heart stop, as she turned her head in her wife's direction. But Maggie's gaze was locked onto something behind her.

As Alex turned around, rifle raised and ready to start firing, her stomach dropped.

A ball of fire was falling out of the sky, making flaming debris rain over National City.

Footsteps made it clear that Maggie was now beside her. She clenched her jaw as she watched the wreckage of the jet dropping down.

 _Fuck._

She involuntarily took a step forward, as if she could try and stop what was happening. But she knew that it was impossible.

"It looks like it's headed here..." Maggie's shaky voice filled her ears.

Alex glanced up again and squinted, realizing that Maggie was right. Though physically impossible, it did seem like the ball of fire was coming closer and closer.

 _Flying straight towards them._

Alex's eyes widened, as she grabbed Maggie's arm and yanked her back, pulling her back towards the cars as fast as she could. They only had _seconds_ before the jet would crash into the tarmac and kill them on impact, if they didn't get to cover soon.

Her heart was beating wildly, but Alex refused to slow down. The whistling of the jet falling out of the sky made the hairs at the back of her neck stand up, but she couldn't think about it.

" _BRACE_!" She yelled in her comms, realizing that they were out of time.

In a last-ditched attempt, she pushed Maggie forward as hard as she could, hoping that those few feet would make the difference between life or death, and clenched her eyes shut, bracing herself for the impact.

But instead of a loud, thunderous crash and possibly the pain of her limbs being crushed slowly, the only thing she was aware of was a bright blue light, enveloping her.

 _Was this death?_

She closed her eyes against the brightness, and prayed it would be over soon.

It was only when her back hit something solid, knocking the wind out of her completely, and she opened one eye to see a bright blue sky above her, that she realized something had gone very wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

There had been many moments in Alex Danvers' life that she was convinced that she was going to die within the next five seconds.

So many in fact, that it almost felt like she'd made peace with the fact that every mission might be her last.

But if Heaven looked anything like what she was seeing right now, then she was thoroughly disappointed.

Because underneath the bright blue sky, all she saw were dark, looming skyscrapers hugging the clouds, towering over her. But the world around her was eerily silent except for the wind rushing between the buildings, and her own labored breathing.

She shot up quickly, glancing down at her own body. She was still in her tactical gear, the assault rifle still clutched in her hands. It seemed like nothing had changed, except for the fact that she was now in a city that she didn't recognize.

" _Shit_ …" She whispered, slowly getting to her feet. She didn't let go of the rifle, but she brought her hand up to her arm to pinch herself, wincing at the self-inflicted pain.

Only then and there realizing that she _wasn't dead._

She wasn't dreaming, this was real.

Somehow, she got transported from the airfield tarmac, to wherever she was now.

And as she looked around trying to get her bearings, or see if she could recognize anything, she realized that she wasn't alone.

" _Mags_ …" Her eyes widened as her mind blanked, the only thing important being the shape in front of her, lying unresponsive on the ground. " _Babe_ , can you hear me?"

She placed a hand on Maggie's cheek and lowered it down to her neck, trying to find a pulse. After a few agonizing moments, her own heart leapt at the feeling of a pulse, and she scrambled forward immediately to put her wife in a recovery position. "You're okay, babe… You're okay…"

She remembered how hard she'd pushed Maggie in a desperate attempt to save her life. Her face seemed to be uninjured, though if she hit the tarmac, that could have meant any number of injuries Alex didn't want to think about.

She also noted that Maggie's assault rifle was nowhere in sight – she'd probably dropped it in her fall. Only one rifle between the two of them almost certainly meant trouble. Though her own handgun was still firmly in her holster – at least it was _something._

Alex placed a protective hand on Maggie's hip, vowing that she'd protect her wife from anything that could happen in this place, before getting up from her crouching position and raising her rifle.

The two of them seemed to be in a plaza, surrounded by tall buildings. And if the names on the buildings hadn't been symbols in a language that Alex didn't understand, she'd been convinced that she was actually in National City.

If – of course – National City was deserted.

She narrowed her eyes, stepping closer to the nearest building in trying to see if she could recognize any of the symbols and maybe narrow down which galaxy she was in. But the writing was unlike anything she'd ever seen.

A noise behind her made her spin around on her heels and raise the rifle defensively, but she lowered it again quickly when she saw that Maggie was now struggling to sit up, her eyes glazed with confusion as she looked around.

Alex ran towards her and knelt to the ground with a weak and worried smile. "Hey… _Easy_ , don't move around too much."

Maggie glanced up at her, a grimace pulling at her features. "What happened…?"

Alex followed her gaze around and realized that she didn't have an answer either. "I don't know. We were at the airfield, and then I woke up here."

"The jet…" Maggie whispered with a frown. "It _crashed_."

"I know." Alex sighed. "They must have heard about our plan, and shot it out of the sky."

Maggie slowly rose to her feet, supported by a still worried Alex. "You okay? I pushed you… pretty hard."

"Yeah, well, we'd both be dead if it wasn't for _this_." Her wife responded, flexing her shoulder before seeing the look on Alex's face. "I'm fine, I swear."

Alex wasn't entirely convinced, but decided to let it go. They needed to figure out what was going on, and fast, before something happened that neither of them could stop.

"What did that Nahrenian messenger say?" Maggie said, looking around. "His capital was similar to ours in architecture but advanced in technology?" She huffed. "This sort of fits the bill."

"I know." That was the first thougt that had crossed Alex's mind too, but she didn't want to make assumptions. "Seems like a ghost town, though, so I doubt we can ask someone for directions. Here..."

Alex reached into her thigh holster and pulled out her sidearm, handing it to Maggie. "Next time you're coming, I'm telling J'onn you need a holster, not just a bulletproof vest."

Maggie chuckled quietly. "I'll hold you to it."

The two of them started walking slowly, looking around. Maggie got her first look at the language on the billboards and frowned. "Do you recognize that?"

"No… I thought it was Lyngonian for a second when I first looked at it, but it doesn't make any sense."

"I… I've seen this before…" Maggie tilted her head, approaching a small alley between two buildings that had symbols painted on the wall.

Alex followed her, looking at her wife. "Really? Where?"

"I think…" Maggie closed her eyes in thought, before they snapped open abruptly as it all came back to her. "His tattoo."

"What tattoo?!"

"The messenger! When he was climbing into the car I saw a tattoo on his wrist. It's the same symbols." Maggie said, looking at the tag on the wall.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Alex was eager to believe what she was telling her, but in languages that they didn't know, it was possible that one dot or stripe could make a world of a difference between two words.

"One hundred percent." Maggie nodded decisively. "It's the same."

"Why would he have that tattooed?" Alex asked, but Maggie didn't respond to her. Instead she leaned forward and studied the tag intensely.

"It smells fresh."

Alex crouched down next to her. "Yeah, you're right."

"And there are paint splatters on top of the grime here…" Maggie pointed down. "So that means that it'srecent – couple of days at most."

"So it could be some sort of revolutionary symbol?" Alex puzzled together. "Like a symbol for the military group that performed the coup here?"

Maggie nodded slowly, apparently having come to the same conclusion. "If this really is Nahrenia's capital, then the only people here are the military group."

"There should be _some_ sort of resistance left, right?" Alex frowned. "There's no such thing as a _complete_ evacuation, people always get left behind."

"I don't know." Maggie raised an eyebrow. "A species that's had centuries of peace, would they still know how to fight back?"

"Maybe not with guns or swords, but with _knowledge_ , at least."

Maggie tilted her head. "Huh. I didn't think you'd say that."

Alex frowned. "What? What do you mean?"

"Just… You know. The DEO is usually shoot first ask questions later. I've never seen you doing hostage negotiations."

"That's not our work, we're black ops." Alex reasoned back, still confused at Maggie's point. "You're saying that I'm a brute…?"

"I'm saying your _work ethics_ are brute." Maggie said with a grin. "But it's like you said, black ops. You're not trained to talk someone down with words, because that wouldn't work. I just found it ironic, don't worry, I didn't mean anything."

"Alright so… The next time we have a situation where we'll be able to talk an alien down I'll be sure to give you a call."

Maggie laughed. She knew her wife well enough to know that Alex wasn't actually angry about the remark, she just took DEO-related jokes personally. She leaned forward to kiss Alex's temple and opened her mouth to apologize, when a loud roaring noise made both of their heads shoot up.

" _Hide_." Alex commanded, reaching for Maggie's arm and yanking her back into the alley impulsively. Maggie winced as the movement jarred her aching shoulder that she hadn't exactly been eager to tell Alex about, but she refused to let it show - instead snapping free from Alex's grasp and running behind her until the two of them were crouched behind the wall, far out of sight from the plaza.

The roaring got louder, and Maggie felt Alex reach for her hand, her other hand clutching the rifle as they both witnessed a large black truck pass by the alley.

Strangely enough, everything they'd seen so far looked passable for Earth-like.

Maybe Nahrenia were just an alternate reality of Earth.

"I think they're gone." Maggie whispered after a few seconds of the roaring dying down. She got up and started making her way back to the entrance of the alley, but Alex stopped her. " _Wait_."

Maggie turned around, wating for Alex to elaborate. But she saw instead that Alex was looking up at the sky.

The detective followed her wife's gaze, seeing a big black dot in the cloudy sky, getting bigger.

"That looks like a ship."

Alex nodded. "We can't let them see us, they might kill us on sight."

Maggie thought for a second. "Alex, they sent out signals, right? To _us_. So if they can reach Earth, then we can reach Earth from here too. All we have to do is figure out where they sent those signals _from_."

"Yeah… Probably the most guarded room on the entire planet." Alex sighed, but she realized that Maggie was right. Sending that distress signal was the only way they could get help. She clutched her rifle a bit tighter. "It should have antennas on top, or sattelite dishes."

"Depending on how advanced their technology is." Maggie reasoned. "It could be any one of those buildings, if we can't see what's on top."

"Damn it…" Alex took a deep breath. "Okay, so two options – either get a lay of the land from above, or get someone to talk."

"Yeah… I don't see a helicopter nearby." Maggie sighed, running her good hand through her hair. "If we can figure out where the palace is, they'll probably have set up camp there."

"Okay." Alex nodded. "We kept that messenger contained in a prison cell, but we didn't scan him for abilities, so we don't know what we're walking into."

"What do you suggest?" Maggie asked, looking down at the handgun in her hands. "We don't know if they're bulletproof, or super strong, those soldiers could be _invisble_ for all we know."

"We have to observe." Alex swallowed thickly. "Wait until we know what their deal is, then wait until we get one of them alone, and overpower them."

"You got any handy gadgets in that belt of yours for that?" Maggie said, looking down at the vast amount of pockets in Alex's vest. She'd never asked about it, but she assumed that there was more in there than just a tactical knife.

Alex glanced down at her pockets and seemed to think. "I have a toxin dart that can knock out _some_ species… We could try it."

"It's the best we got." Maggie said as she helped Alex to her feet.

The two of them made their way back out of the alley, checking plenty of times to see that the plaza was still as deserted as they assumed.

Maggie started walking in the direction of the truck, but realized within a few seconds that Alex wasn't right behind her. Instead, the agent was looking at one of the buildings surrounding them, apparently having an idea.

"If we can get to the top floor, maybe even the roof… We could get a proper look around, and maybe get some more information on whatever this species is. It seems like a commercial building, and it's deserted."

"Good call." Maggie nodded. "Let's go."

As they both raised their guns, and headed inside, a strange feeling crept over Maggie – it felt like they were being watched.

She glanced behind her nervously, but the plaza was still quiet as ever.

She wasn't sure if she'd imagined the face in one of the opposite building's windows, though.


	3. Chapter 3

By now, Maggie was convinced that this _was_ in fact an alternate version of Earth. Because the office building they entered was almost identical to the ones back home in National City. The only big difference was the writing everywhere, almost tauntingly similar yet completely unreadable.

As they crossed the lobby, Alex raised the rifle and glanced up, listening intensely. After a few seconds, she glanced back. "It's silent."

Maggie nodded, and walked over to the reception on the other side of the room, looking down at the desk and immediately noticing the device that took up most of the space.

"Alex, I think this is a computer..."

The agent looked up and made her way over to her wife, following her gaze down to the desk. "You'd think they'd stolen this stuff from us, right?"

"I know." Maggie mused, before touching the screen for good measure. Immediately, it popped to life. Both women's eyes widened, as a white background appeared.

There was no keyboard or mouse in sight, so Maggie didn't have the slightest idea what to do next. "The messenger said something about a language processor, right? You think that's an anatomy thing, or a technology thing?"

"We've constructed something like it, for over 400 extraterrestrial languages." Alex replied. "But I don't think Nahrenian isn't on the list."

She followed up her statement by reaching into one of the pockets of her tactical vest and pulling out a pair of seemingly common glasses, pushing them up her nose.

Maggie only had a second to bask in the glory of seeing how absolutely _sexy_ Alex looked with those glasses, when the agent sighed deeply, shaking her head. "Nope. They're not recognizing the language whatsoever."

She tucked the glasses back into the pocket, apparently oblivious to the effect she'd just had on Maggie. She stepped away from the lobby and continued her exploration.

When she was slightly over the glasses – but made a mental note to ask Alex about them later on - Maggie swallowed thickly, suddenly remembering Winn's words at the command center.

The distress signal had come from over _tenthousand_ lightyears away.

Without a portal, there was _no_ chance of either of them surviving this planet. They _had_ to get to that device, whatever it took.

And in the meantime, they could only hope that Winn would be able to pinpoint the location and create a portal for them first.

Alex noticed that Maggie had gone silent, probably lost in her own thoughts, and moved towards what looked like an elevator. To her surprise, putting her hand on the touchpad actually made the doors open.

She'd figured that most of the planet's electricity would have been shut down by now.

"Are you coming?" She asked over her shoulder, still seeing Maggie staring at the screen. Reading the look on her face, Alex realized that it had just hit Maggie that they were on another planet, on the other side of the galaxy.

She suddenly realized that _she_ herself had been on a few other planets before, but Maggie hadn't even left the continent. This had to be completely _devastating_ for her.

Her expression softened, and she walked back towards where her wife was standing.

"You okay?"

Alex knew that it was a stupid question. Neither of them were alright, but she also knew that Maggie was strong enough to keep her head cool and do everything she could to fix the situation. She'd seen Maggie out in the field, and if there was _one_ person she'd trust with her life in here, it was her.

She reached forward and gently put a hand on Maggie's arm when the detective didn't immediately respond. But as soon as she made contact, the other woman's head snapped up and she cleared her throat quickly. "Yeah, yeah. I'm… _Yeah_ , don't worry."

Alex eyed her skeptically as Maggie led the way towards the elevator, raising her handgun. The agent made a mental note to keep an eye on her wife, but followed her into the elevator car as they watched the doors close.

As they looked around, neither of them saw any indication of buttons or a touchpad to select a floor. Alex frowned, and was just about to open her mouth when the doors in front of them closed completely.

Instantly, they were launched up at a velocity that actually convinced Alex that her insides were going to explode, as she felt her feet leave the ground, hitting the ceiling of the car with her shoulders before dropping down roughly.

It couldn't have taken more than five seconds before everything went quiet as ever, and an almost taunting _ding_ made the doors open again, an automated voice garbling something in Nahrenian they couldn't understand.

Alex groaned, propping herself up on her elbows and wincing. " _Fuck_ …" She glanced sideways to see that Maggie was already trying to get back on her feet too.

"There a _speed setting_ on this thing?!" Maggie grunted weakly.

The two of them stumbled out of the elevator after reaching for their guns that they'd both dropped in the commotion. Maggie was convinced that the ride up had actually further aggravated her shoulder, but seeing the scowl on Alex's face made it clear that the agent had probably suffered some sore limbs of her own, so she figured she shouldn't complain.

It was clear that Alex was in agent mode, and Maggie knew that she had to be strong. Acting pathetic would only slow their rescue down - there was no time for whining.

"I think this is the top floor." Alex finally broke the silence, before jogging up to the nearest window and glancing down onto the city. "Holy…"

Maggie looked up at the exclamation and followed her wife, moving to stand beside her and finally seeing what Alex had been responding to.

Maggie Sawyer had been in large cities. National City, New York, Metropolis… And she'd found herself in the financial districts of said cities, with large areas of skyscrapers hugging the clouds.

But this… This was unlike anything she'd ever seen.

Tall buildings were stretching out as far as she could see, disappearing over the horizon. It was almost like a labyrinth of skyscrapers with the occasional green patch or plaza between.

If this really was the capital, then either the area of the city was about the size of California, or this planet had never invented a bungalow.

Next to her, Alex raised a hand, pointing below. "There, next to the red billboard. Could that be the palace?"

Maggie glanced down, locating the building Alex was talking about pretty quickly. It was one of the tallest around, shaped like a bullet and made almost entirely out of glass. A golden tube seemed to be spiraling around the building's exterior.

"Yeah." Maggie nodded slowly, now squinting. "…And do you see what's on top?"

Alex frowned and examined the building in more detail too, finally realizing what Maggie was talking about. "… It's an _antenna_."

They briefly shared a look, realizing what needed to be done simultaneously.

Though, looking back, the building seemed to be miles away.

"Any way we could steal one of those jeeps?" Maggie mused out loud, knowing that it wasn't a possibility anyway. Alex seemed to realize it was a joke, because she didn't respond to it immediately.

Instead, the agent walked back, looking around the upper floor of the building they were in. It looked like an office building, but there was no telling what exactly it was used for. There were desks and islands, even things that looked like coffee machines and water coolers. But everything was so _slightly different_ that it actually drove her crazy not being able to understand or _trust_ any of it.

"Okay – game plan." Alex said, taking a deep breath before turning around to face her wife once again. "The first step is figuring out the language. We'll need it if we want to have a shot at this. Then we'll have to get to that building. If it's not the palace, then at least it has _some_ way of broadcasting. We'll figure something out."

Maggie nodded slowly. "I'm with you." She hesitated, opening her mouth to continue while glancing back towards the elevator. "Uh… Any way we could find an _alternate_ method of transportation that gets us back to the ground floor without breaking any bones…?"

Alex glanced down into her tactical vest, frowning. "I have… _some_ ideas."

Minutes later, Maggie found herself standing on the edge of the rooftop of the same, 46-story high building, and wishing she'd just taken the elevator ride down instead of complaining about it.

"It's totally safe… _Most of the time_." Alex said next to her, sounding like she was casually discussing the topic. "It's Nalybian, the strongest of its kind. We can rappel down the side of the building while holding on to it."

"And _what_ exactly are you going to tie it to…?" Maggie asked, looking around. Her shoulder was already throbbing at the thought of putting so much pressure on it, but she willed herself to stay helpful and positive instead of continuing to doubt Alex's actions and ideas.

"This air vent should do." Alex said, walking over to a large metallic box and reaching into her tactical vest to pull out a spool of wire that looked more like a fishing line than an actual rope.

"You can't be serious." Maggie said, her eyes widening at the small spool of thread Alex was holding. "… You want us to jump off a 200 meter tall building holding a _thread_?!"

"Yeah." Alex replied, as if it was obvious. "It's a test for new recruits, actually. This thread can pull an entire twelve-wheeler off the ground easily, and it never breaks. Everyone at the DEO is required to use it at least once, to gain trust in their equipment."

"Uh-huh…" Maggie said. "Yeah that sounds… _Okay_."

Alex frowned at Maggie's sudden hesitance, but before she could ask about it, the detective had already reached for the spool, studying it.

"There's a mile of thread on the spool, but I think it's better if we don't waste it using two lines."

Maggie nodded and handed the spool back, watching as Alex wrapped it around the air vent and tied a big knot in it, tugging at it to test her handiwork. "Alright, there's no harness so the next part is going to be tricky."

" _Tricky_." Maggie repeated with a slight huff. "I figured."

"I'll go first, using the spool and unwinding it as I go down. As soon as I get to the ground I'll tie the thread somewhere to give you enough slack to rappel down. Just… hold on to the rope, _tightly_. Don't let go."

Maggie swallowed thickly, the fact that she could very well plunge to her death within the next few minutes hitting her all at once.

"Hey…" She saw Alex's worried gaze and looked down to break their eye-contact. But Alex was having none of it, putting her index finger underneath Maggie's cheek to gently find her eyes once more. "Babe, are you okay? I know all of this has to be… _overwhelming_."

Maggie huffed once again, shaking her head. "You sound like this is just another Tuesday for you."

" _Hey_." Alex said again. "Talk to me. _Please_."

The detective bit the inside of her cheek, before smiling weakly. "It's fine, Alex. You're right, I'm probably just a bit overwhelmed."

Alex nodded slowly, the concern in her gaze not fading. "If you don't want to do this, just tell me. We can find another way down, or we can take the elevator again if we brace…?"

" _No_." Maggie rejected that _horrible_ idea instantly, her stomach lurching at the thought. "No, it's fine. It's like you said – all your recruits have to do it. And I'll have a great story to tell back at the precinct… Haven't exactly jumped off a building before."

Alex laughed quickly, masking her discomfort. "Yeah… Uh… Me- _me neither_."

"Just be _careful_." Maggie grew serious once again, putting her hands on Alex's cheeks and ignoring how much the motion jarred her right shoulder. "I'll see you below, yeah?"

"Of course." Alex smiled, leaning in to meet Maggie's lips in a gentle but passionate kiss.

After a few seconds, Alex pulled back and nodded slowly, giving a final tug at the knot before taking the thread in one hand, the spool in the other, and moving to the ledge of the rooftop.

Maggie could only admire Alex's skills as she watched her wife lean over the side of the building, not even looking fazed about it. She kept a tight grip on the line with one hand, gently rolling the spool with the other and using her legs to walk herself down the side of the building.

Hell, Alex made it look _easy._

As soon as she found a decent rhythm to her actions, she looked up to see Maggie leaning over the edge of the roof slightly to watch her. "You doing okay?"

"I'm fine!" Maggie shouted back. "What about you?"

Alex grinned. To be honest, she _had_ seen the way Maggie had looked at her, with those adoring and loving eyes, and she'd willed herself to show that she was used to these crisis situations. To be the strong one, because she could see Maggie crumbling and she was looking for a way to tell her wife that it was _okay_ to not feel competent here.

Alex herself was anything but competent at surviving in deserted alien cities.

But they had to trust each other, and rely on the other to help. Maggie kept Alex grounded, and Alex knew that the detective felt the same way, so if she had to be Maggie's rock right now, she'd do anything she could to make that happen.

A few more steps, she was now about twenty yards down.

As she looked up once more to search eye-contact with Maggie, she felt her heart stop.

Maggie was looking at her, a stoic look on her face, probably to mask the fear of Alex plunging to her death in front of her eyes;

But behind her, a tall, pale face with a black cap was moving closer to her, until he was _right_ behind her.

" _MAGGIE_!" Alex yelled in fear, as she saw the man's lips broaden into a smirk.

The detective frowned, and opened her mouth to ask what the hell Alex was yelling at, when she finally felt the presence behind her.

Before she could say or do anything else, Alex saw Maggie turn around to face the man, before he _kicked_ her.

Maggie stumbled backwards, until her body finally toppled over the ledge.

Alex froze as she saw her wife fall.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as she saw her wife fall, Alex felt like she was going to be sick.

Instinctively, she tightened her grip on the thread in her left hand and chucked the spool down as hard as she could in her direction, screaming. " _Maggie_! The _wire_!"

She slipped down, not caring that the the thread between her hands was starting to burn through her skin. She just had to get to Maggie as fast as possible before the woman plunged to her death.

How she _wished_ that she could fly in that moment.

Her heart leapt when she saw Maggie struggling, but finally managing to reach for the wire, grabbing it with both hands and slowing down slightly.

Maggie heard herself scream in pain as the rough movements jarred her shoulder, and at this point she was pretty sure it was going to fall off any second, but she held on as much as she could, feeling the tears pooling in her eyes from both the wind and agony ripping through her.

"Alex…" She whispered, knowing that her wife could never hear her from that far away.

" _I'm coming, babe, just hold on_!" Was the response. Maggie finally looked up to see Alex rappelling down the side of the building faster than she'd ever seen, clutching the wire in her hands.

When she looked down, Maggie saw that the ground was still at least twenty feet below. Jumping that would probably kill her. But she didn't trust her shaking arms to get down safely by herself either.

"It's okay… it's okay…" Alex repeated like a mantra as soon as she was close. Maggie took a shaky breath, looking up to see that the pale man was looking at them calmly from the edge of the rooftop.

So much for staying quiet.

"Babe, are you okay?!" Alex asked when she was about five feet above Maggie. She stopped moving, just in case the wire shook and Maggie had to let go of it, to contemplate what she was going to do next.

"I-I'm not sure how long I can hold on." Maggie answered honestly, hating how much her voice was shaking.

But Alex nodded, glancing down. "He won't be able to cut the wire, so we're safe… But if he gets word out, we could be shot on sight. So we have to move fast. Do you still have the spool?"

Maggie glanced down and saw that the spool was lying on the ground several feet below. She shook her head.

Alex followed her gaze and grunted. "Okay, uh… Let me think."

The detective bit her lip, willing her arms to stop shaking. If she could get a strong enough grip to just rappel down the rest of the building, then Alex wouldn't have to worry. They'd both be safe.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, and started climbing down. Alex hadn't anticipated it, but watched her move, a concerned look on her face.

After a few feet, Maggie stopped abruptly when a new hot flash of pain shot through her shoulder. She grunted loudly, and shook her head, letting go of the wire with her right arm and dangling helplessly by one hand, still too high above the ground to be safe.

"Okay, _hold on_ , Mags." Alex responded quickly, moving down as much as she could, until her feet were almost touching Maggie's hand. Then, she reached into the back of her belt and pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

"Give me your right hand." Alex said, leaning down on the wire with one open cuff. But Maggie shook her head, gritting her teeth.

"I _can't_ , Alex."

Alex took a shaky breath, realizing that Maggie wasn't joking, and lowered herself down until she was dangling too, the only thing saving her from death being her right hand clutching the wire.

Her left arm fastened the cuff around Maggie's hand that was still holding on, and then clicked the other cuff around her left ankle.

"What are you doing?" Maggie asked weakly.

"Hold on to my leg, okay? As much as you can. Then let go of the wire. I _won't_ let you fall, I promise."

Maggie didn't hesitate, wrapping her left arm around Alex's calf as hard as the cuffs allowed her to, her right arm still dangling uselessly.

When Alex had both hands free once again, she used all of the upper body strength she had to get down the thread, hand over hand. She knew that they were almost on the ground, but she still felt her muscles cramp and protest at the extreme exertion, and grunted loudly, trying to summon the last bit of her strength.

Finally, Maggie felt her feet touch the ground, and she let go of Alex's leg to use her own momentum to pull Alex down.

The handcuffs forced her down into a crouch as soon as Alex's feet were back on the ground too, so Alex leaned down to unlock the cuffs with a swipe of her fingerprint.

Maggie sighed in relief as she felt the pressure around her wrist disappear, but didn't get up immediately.

"We have to get out of here." Alex panted, tucking the handcuffs back in her pocket. "Grab the spool."

Alex was already scouting ahead, looking for possible hiding spots, leaving a dumbfounded Maggie behind.

"How am I supposed to cut the wire?!" She asked shakily.

Alex stopped in her tracks and turned around, reaching into her vest and pulling out a pair of what looked like alien scissors, throwing them down in front of Maggie.

 _Of course the solution was in Alex's Mary Poppins-vest._

She reached for the scissors and cut the thread, taking the rest of the spool and running after Alex.

She found her wife looking at a smaller building consisting of about ten stories, which already stood out in the sea of skyscrapers.

As soon as the agent noticed that Maggie was with her again, she faced her. "We need to lay low for a bit. They'll know we're around here, and if we stay hidden it might give us a chance to analyze them."

"I lost my gun." Maggie whispered, clutching her shoulder with her good arm. "It's still on the roof, I'm sorry-…"

"No." Alex shook her head. "Don't apologize. Come on, let's get you inside, I need to look at your shoulder."

She turned back to the building and walked towards the door. To her surprise, it opened automatically, swinging inside.

Making a mental note to barricade the door once the two of them were settled, she gently guided her wife inside with a hand on her waist.

It seemed to be a department store, with aisles filled with shelves. She didn't recognize the products in the slightest, but that didn't matter. In the center of the room there was another elevator, and she pulled Maggie towards it the second she noticed it, praying desparately that it wasn't one of those high-tech G-force elevators like before.

Luckily, it didn't seem the case. It did go fast though, as they reached the top floor in a matter of seconds.

Next to her, Alex felt Maggie sag slightly, realizing that her wife had to be exhausted. And though her arms protested heavily, she still reached for her, grabbed her by the back of her knees and pulled her into her arms.

"Alex, _don't_ … I'm fine…" Maggie protested weakly, but she didn't seem adamant on walking, instead burying her face in Alex's neck.

The agent carried her wife out of the elevator and onto the current floor.

Her head flooded with relief when she noticed herself surrounded by furniture, and looked around until she found the things that looked the most like beds.

She gently deposited Maggie on one of the beds, and took a seat next to her. "Hey… How are you feeling?"

Maggie laughed weakly, but Alex saw the tears in her eyes.

"We're _centuries_ away from Earth." Maggie started, trying to bite away the feelings in her voice. "Whoever is here is hunting us, and… They almost threw me off a building."

Alex nodded. She didn't know _anything_ that would make Maggie feel better right now. But she had to do _something_.

"Sit up, let me see your shoulder."

Maggie complied, wincing at the pull of her abdominal muscles as she sat up. As she reached for the underside of the tactical shirt, she hesitated. "Can you…"

Alex didn't need to hear anything else, instead moving down to reach for the shirt herself and helping Maggie out of it, careful not to nudge the shoulder too much. Though she did see Maggie's contained flinch of pain when she pulled the last part of the sleeve over her head.

"How is the pain?" Alex asked.

"Like… a seven." Maggie admitted. "I think it's just the scar."

Alex saw the long scar from Hank Henshaw's laser from over a year ago, but that wasn't what drew her attention. Higher, a huge bruise spread across her shoulder, already showing shades of purple.

"I think your shoulder joint is heavily bruised." Alex said. "Can you move it?"

Maggie experimentally tried to rotate her shoulder, but stopped quickly. "Barely."

"Did you hear anything snap, or crack?" Alex pressed, looking Maggie in the eyes with that serious doctor-look on her face.

"I don't know." The detective sighed. "It… It all went so fast. I don't remember."

Alex's gaze softened, and she stopped her medical examination for a second to reach for Maggie's hand.

Maggie squeezed it gently, before frowning at the weird texture, and turning Alex's hand over to see the palm.

Her eyes widened at the white and red-angry lines across her wife's hand. Several layers of skin seemed peeled off, and Maggie remembered how Alex had slid down the thread to help her. This had to be some sort of rope burn.

"It's okay." Alex smiled weakly, leaning forward to press her forehead against Maggie's. "It's okay, we're okay."

"How do you _do_ this?" Maggie whispered quietly. Alex looked up with a frown, unsure as to what Maggie was aiming at.

"What?"

"How is none of this getting to you?" Maggie swallowed thickly. "Y-you were… _amazing_ back there. You saved my life, and… I'm _trying_ but..."

" _Mags_ …" Alex shook her head. "That… That was the _worst_ moment of my life. Seeing you fall… I thought you were dead."

She watched as a tear slid down Maggie's cheek, and reached forward to gently wipe it off with the pad of her thumb. "I can't lose you, Maggie… I'm scared." She laughed weakly. "I'm fucking _terrified_."

Maggie reached forward and captured Alex's lips once more, thanking whatever gods that were listening that they got to have another kiss.

But when they pulled back, the doubts clouded her mind once again.

"So… What do we do now…?"

Alex got up from the bed slowly, pulling the assault rifle back onto her chest.

"We're going _home_."


	5. Chapter 5

Though her DEO training had prepared her for many worst case scenarios, this situation was somehow worse than anything she'd endured so far.

She'd been dropped in the desert, forced to survive with minimal supplies. Jungles, with dangerous predators ready to pounce given any window of opportunity. The middle of the ocean, the arctic plains, _any climate_ that could possibly work against the human body – Alex had succeeded in beating them all.

But _this_. A jungle of skyscrapers with humanoid features where they couldn't trust _anything_ to be what they assumed, somehow felt far more dangerous than any wasteland.

She had to find medical supplies. With Maggie still unable to move her right arm properly, and the beating they'd both endured during their time on the side of the skyscraper, Alex knew they needed a moment to catch their breath and regain their strength.

But hunger was starting to become a factor too – aside from the cup of coffee they'd both downed when they were first headed to the DEO, they hadn't eaten or drunk anything for hours.

And with the stress and exhaustion of finding themselves here, it was imperative that they found food and water soon.

Which, working backwards, brought her back to the inhabitants of the planet. If she could study one of them, figure out how they worked, she could know how much of her surroundings she could trust.

Remembering the messenger, and how bony and pale he was. She didn't know whether the soldiers that had performed the coup were even of the same race, so it was a huge leap of feaith.

But she had to take it.

She decided to break the news after coming back with some sort of metal contraption she'd found in one of the nearby aisles, moving to Maggie's side. She reached into her vest and pulled out one of the only first-aid things she possessed – a small gauze roll.

Maggie's eyes widened upon seeing it. " _No_ , Alex, don't use that."

Alex frowned, moving closer. "What are you talking about?"

"Use _tape_ or something, don't use those bandages, we need those to bind your hands."

Alex actually chuckled upon hearing it. "Mags, we need to splint your shoulder, my hands are fine. Now shut up and let me do this."

The detective pulled back. "Alex, I'm _serious_."

"So am I!" Alex shot back. "I know you're in pain, don't make this harder on yourself."

When Maggie refused, instead pulling her shoulder back ostentatiously once more, Alex growled. "Just _hold still_!"

Maggie snapped free from her grip and jumped off the bed, glaring at her. "What part of ' _no_ ' don't you understand?!"

"The part where you're _hurt_ and you need to stop being stubborn!"

"Do you _fucking_ realize that it might take _weeks_ before we can get away from here?! We need to save supplies, I'm _fine_." The detective huffed. "I'm going to go look for tape."

Alex considered going after her, but was still seeing red at how stupid Maggie was being. She needed some cooling time herself, tucking the gauze back into her vest and walking towards one of the windows to glance down at the street below.

" _Fuck_ …" She whispered to herself, shaking her head. This couldn't happen. They couldn't fight right now – with the both of them at risk of being discovered by those military troops patrolling around the city…

The thought of those aliens being downstairs and seeing Maggie, her wife unable to run away or being shot on sight…

The thought made Alex's stomach turn.

And her worst fears bubbled to the surface at the sight of what looked like an armored truck pulling up in front of the store they were in.

Her eyes widened as she watched uniformed aliens step out of the truck. She squinted to get a better look, seeing that they were almost identical to the messenger that had arrived on Earth.

They had to be from the same race. Maybe different planets, but that wasn't important.

Alex tried to commit every detail to memory. Their slender stature, clutching what looked like high-tech rifles in their hands.

Those things looked like they could disintegrate them completely with a single pull of a trigger.

One of the soldiers in front was gesturing wildly – he seemed to be the one in charge. And to Alex's horror, they started marching towards the building.

 _Maggie._

Alex stepped away from the window and ran towards the bed where she'd placed her rifle, running into the direction Maggie had stormed off to.

 _Shit. Shit. Shit…_

"Maggie!" She yelled, spinning around on her heels trying to look for her. But there were so many aisles and shelves that it was impossible to see anything walking around. "Maggie, we need to go _now_ , where are you?!"

Realizing that her wife probably wasn't there, Alex felt her heart clench painfully. She sprinted towards the elevator, calling it and getting inside the cabin. Maggie could be anywhere in the huge, ten-story building.

She _had_ to find her before those soldiers did.

And she prayed that they were as frail as they looked, because if her bullets couldn't hurt them… Then they were severely fucked anyway.

As soon as the doors opened, Alex glanced at the windows and realized to her relief that the elevator hadn't sent her down to the ground floor. She ran out, rifle raised, and yelled once again. " _Maggie_!"

A few seconds of silence, and Alex closed her eyes, her heart almost beating out of her chest.

But after that, a vague grunt from the other side of the huge room made her head spin with relief.

" _What_ , Alex?!"

The agent opened her mouth to reply, but glanced back at the sound of the elevator doors closing once again, and the car moving downward.

That could only mean that the soldiers were on their way in.

Alex's head snapped back into the room. "Maggie, they're inside, we need to _go_ , now."

There wasn't a verbal response, though there was the unmistakable sound of feet scuffing along the floor, as Maggie was moving towards her. Alex was running up and down the aisles trying to find her.

They were down to _seconds,_ Alex was sure of it. If they needed to rappel down the building once more to get away… Maybe they could steal the truck and drive to safety.

Behind her, the elevator _dinged_.

Instinctively, she jumped sideways and rolled into one of the aisles, realizing that they'd run out of time.

Now, she had to trust that Maggie had heard the elevator as well, and was hidden away somewhere. But with no means of communicating without giving away their position…

Alex didn't like the situation one bit.

This floor seemed to have all sorts of technical materials, like a hardware store. Alex slid down the aisle with her front facing the side of the elevator, slowly backing up to get further down. She was hunched over, the vest weighting down her already exhausted body, but adrenalin had overtaken her once more.

She had to stay hidden for as long as possible, find Maggie, regroup with her, and get away.

 _Should be easy enough_ , she scoffed to herself, as she felt her heart pound painfully.

Heavy footsteps out the elevator, probably from boots. Alex closed her eyes for a second to focus on the noise.

Three pairs.

Three soldiers.

One of them was shouting, but Alex didn't understand it. But the sound of the footsteps coming from different directions meant that the soldiers had split up, and were combing out the floor.

There was no mistake in Alex's mind that they were looking for the two of them.

She crouched down at the other side of the aisle, and glanced into the open space in front of her. To her relief, it was deserted. And knowing those soldiers, they wouldn't bother acting stealthy, they'd just patrol up and down every aisle until they'd found them.

She wiped the sweat off her forehead and glanced around, looking for a hiding spot. If there were any cabinets nearby, _anything_ large enough for her to hide in until the soldiers would be satisfied they weren't on that floor and move along…

She realized that if she didn't find Maggie soon, she just had to trust the detective to have the same idea.

As quickly and quietly as possible, Alex jumped out into the open space and rolled into another aisle, now nearing the far wall of the room.

Maggie's voice had come from this direction vaguely, and the absence of light footsteps gave Alex an educated guess that she was somewhere around here still, probably hiding.

Alex crouched down, pointing the rifle at the floor. She wasn't in cover, and the second one of the soldiers would walk into her aisle, she'd be completely exposed.

The loud footsteps now seemed to be coming from all directions, and it was dizzying to keep track of them. For all she knew, the alien race had extremely developed senses and had smelled or seen her ever since they set foot in the building.

Maybe they were toying with her.

Maybe Maggie was already dead.

Alex's breath hitched in her throat as she clenched her hands around the rifle.

She couldn't afford to lose focus right now. And if it all turned out to be a lost cause, well…

… At least she'd go down fighting.

She crouched down even lower, until she was resting on the balls of her feet. This way, her body was as small of a target as possible while still ready to jump or move if needed.

A scraping sound behind her made it clear that she'd miscalculated the soldiers' locations completely.

She spun around as fast as possible, raising the rifle and in a flash preparing herself for a painful death within the next few seconds.

But when her eyes met jet black ones, the soldier didn't raise his weapon to shoot.

Too distracted by the arm currently wrapped around his throat.

Alex's stomach turned at the sight of Maggie, using her good arm to choke the alien out, her injured arm bent for her hand to clamp over his mouth. Alex could see from the look on her wife's face that Maggie was in pain, but there was a mask of absolute anger and adrenalin that had overtaken her completely.

Alex moved forward as quietly as possible, seeing that Maggie could get in trouble if the alien fought back against her weakened grip.

As the alien raised its gun, aiming it up towards Maggie's face, Alex lowered her own rifle to reach for the gun with both hands in an attempt to yank it away from him.

Alex's eyes met her wife's for a brief second, before the alien stumbled. Maggie, who was practically sitting on his back as her feet were off the ground, almost fell off but managed to hold on, using her own body weight to pull harder on his throat.

Alex finally got a grip on the gun and pulled it away, now aiming it at him.

The idea of taking the soldier as a hostage to get the information they needed appeared in her head, and she tried to silently get Maggie's attention. But instead of responding to her, the detective clenched her eyes shut as an apparent tremor of pain made her lower the hand clutched over his mouth.

The soldier apparently saw it as an opportunity. Alex realized what he was going to do a fraction of a second earlier and ran forward to tackle him to the ground, but it was already too late.

The alien yelled loudly in what Alex assumed was a cry for help, as she clotheslined him.

She lost track of Maggie as she tumbled to the ground, grunting as her already sore upper body slammed into the concrete floor forcefully.

A hand yanked her up by the back of her shirt, and for a second she thought it was Maggie helping her up. But when she glanced back, she saw a new pair of black, empty eyes.

She instinctively raised the newly acquired gun and fired off a shot in the alien's direction.

Immediately, the soldier behind her let go of her, yanked back by the force of the weapon and slamming into the shelf behind him.

She only had a second to revel in the effect the weapon had, when she spotted Maggie next to the first alien, stomping on his throat. He wasn't moving anymore, but that didn't mean he was out.

"We gotta _go_!" Alex hissed, knowing that there was at least one more soldier on the floor.

If they'd gotten word out, there could be backup on the way already. They had to get out, and fast.

"Get outside, find cover!" Alex said as the two of them started running. "I'm right behind you!"

Maggie sprinted towards the center of the room as fast as possible, skidding around the corners of the aisles. When she reached it, she sighed in relief and called the elevator, allowing herself one quick moment to catch her breath.

When she heard another set of footsteps behind her and spun around, she realized that Alex had been lying.

Because her wife was nowhere in sight.

And the gun currently pointed at her was already glowing blue with energy, ready to kill.


	6. Chapter 6

Instantly and instinctively, Maggie raised her good arm in what she hoped was the universal sign of surrender, the last split second of staring down the barrel of the gun realizing that this had truly been her last minute in existence.

Alex was nowhere in sight, and the fact that her last moments alive were spent worried for her wife and sending up a quick prayer to whomever would listen that Alex would survive this and be happy again, made her heart heavy with a primal sadness.

Much to her surprise, though, the impact never came.

She carefully opened one eye again, having shut them to brace for the lethal shot of energy, and saw that the soldier was still pointing the weapon at her, and shouting something in a language she didn't understand. Probably his local dialect – some type of Nahrenian.

Maggie shook her head dumbly. "I-I don't understand."

Immediately, the soldier reached for something in the back of his neck, and when his hand moved to his gun again, he opened his mouth once more.

"Who are you?"

He must have enabled his language processor, like the Nahrenian messenger back on Earth had told them.

She didn't lower her arms, unable to identify just how trigger happy the soldier was, but he at least seemed willing to listen to her explanation. "My name is Maggie Sawyer, I am a human from planet Earth."

" _Earth_." The alien repeated, weighing the word. "Milky Way galaxy?"

Maggie nodded quickly. "We were sent here by accident. We're trying to go home again - our species hasn't invented long-distance space travel yet, so we need help. _Please_."

She knew that acting vulnerable could blow up in her face, but they were out of options anyway. If the guy decided he didn't like her story, he'd blow her to pieces, and there was a chance that he'd take pity on them and help.

"Earth is a long way from Nahrenia." The soldier responded. "Our ships are not designed for such travel."

 _Where the hell was Alex?!_ Maggie was starting to get worried. Alex must have heard the conversation between her and the alien by now – what was she planning?

If she was going to attack the soldier, she might kill the best chance they had of getting back home – an _ally_ on the planet. And if she lunged out of nowhere and the guy reacted on instinct…

… Then Alex could be splattered all over the shelves in the blink of an eye.

Maggie considered her options briefly, before turning her attention back to the soldier. "Me and my… _friend_ are stranded, there is technology here that can create portals between planets. We've seen it happen before. I understand that we may seem like a threat to you, but we have no interest in your political or military affairs – we're just looking to get home."

The soldier tilted his head. "Where is your friend?"

"She's…" Maggie hesitated. "…Somewhere around here. We were hiding – a group of soldiers attacked us earlier."

"We have orders to execute anybody who stands in the way of our duty." He said, looking her up and down, his eyes examining her crudely splinted shoulder. "You appear injured."

"Yes." Maggie nodded quickly. "My shoulder. I hurt it when we were transported here."

"I have medical supplies in my truck."

It occurred to Maggie then, that the soldier had been part of a three-headed team. He didn't seem fazed whatsoever that none of the others had heard them – since they were both unconscious or dead on the other side of the room.

She honestly didn't want to go with him, but she knew that they would end up coming with him one way or another. If not voluntarily, then by force and at gunpoint.

"Alex?" She yelled out, hating how much her voice trembled. "Alex, we need to go."

A scuffling from the back. Maggie clenched her eyes shut once more, hoping that it was Alex and not one of the other alien soldiers.

She sighed in relief when she heard the quiet " _Coming_!".

The alien had looked up at the sound of the noise, but was now focused on Maggie once more. "Maggie Sawyer of Earth."

The detective glanced back at him, nodding with a shaky laugh. "That's me."

She still didn't understand why he spared her, but he seemed friendly. And as much as that was a red flag on a planet filled with rebel troops that had incapacitated the local government and installed anarchy, there were no other options left.

Running now would mean death.

When Alex appeared again, she froze at the sight of Maggie standing next to the soldier. Her hands reached for the alien weapon, and Maggie instinctively took a step forward to talk her out of aiming it, when she soldier raised a hand. "It is alright. I mean you no harm."

Alex clenched her jaw, seemingly unsatisfied by the answer. "The others didn't share that sentiment. They tried to kill us."

"We have no choice." The soldier replied. "We are following orders from our leader, who was set on conquering and annexing this planet to our system. But you… You two are humans, you two are not supposed to be here. It would be pointless to kill you."

Maggie found Alex's eyes, and in their shared gaze, she tried to calm Alex down. They had to trust him.

He continued quickly, lowering the weapon. "My name is Daghmar. Maggie Sawyer said that you need a portal to get back home. This will not be easy. The deep space transmitter is located in the science tower of the palace."

Maggie sighed. "We figured."

Daghmar nodded. "It is used to deploy troops to other locations, but requires a body on the other side to keep the portal open. There are no Nahrenians on your planet."

"There are." Alex stepped forward. Maggie's eyes widened, realizing that Alex had told him what she'd tried to steer clear from.

She didn't want the soldier to know that Earth was scouted as a possible refuge for the Nahrenians, because if he told anyone – that could mean that Earth would become a bloody battlefield for a war that no human was involved in. Many innocents would die – humans and Nahrenians alike.

Instead of lashing out or acting surprised upon hearing it, Daghmar nodded. "That will do. If we can contact them, have them set up a portal, that would be your only chance of getting away from Nahrenia."

"Thank you, Daghmar." Maggie said.

"Let us get back to my truck. I have to call in the casualties."

Alex and Maggie shared another stressful look, when the man smirked. "Do not worry. They died doing their duty. In the next life, they will be rewarded abundantly."

The answer seemed to come so naturally for him, that it was almost comical. He didn't seem fazed by the fact that the two of them had just disabled the rest of his unit – if anything, it made him laugh.

"It was kill or be killed." Alex pressed, trying to gauge his reaction once more.

But Daghmar just shrugged, heading for the elevator. "Humans are small and frail, but they can take out our soldiers. This is why we should fear you, and get you back before you decide to get in the middle of our war."

After a few seconds, Maggie realized that he was apparently trying to make a joke. His mouth split open in a wide grin, and the detective felt herself laughing too. The relief from having some divine intervention – something that had apparently heard her prayer and had bought her another couple of minutes of living instead of dying at the hands of an alien soldier on a planet centuries away from home.

As they stepped into the elevator and he spoke something in his native language again, she felt Alex reaching for her hand and squeezing it gently.

Maggie turned her head to glance at her wife, whose eyes still looked a bit wary of the soldier, but still had such a warm and tender tone that made her feel better instantly.

They stepped out of the elevator, and Daghmar raised his gun once again. "We will drive to the palace. Someone will help you – I will vouch for you."

" _Daghmar_ …" Alex started, stopping in her tracks as the soldier headed for the exit. "You go on ahead, we need to talk for a minute and we'll join you."

He seemed to understand immediately what she was implying, and nodded. "Do not take too long. More units might be coming – you were targeted by our system and it won't stop calling units until the threat is over."

"Understood." Alex nodded.

Daghmar seemed satisfied by her answer, and headed outside, the doors parting for him as he made his way over to the car.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Alex turned to Maggie. "What the _hell_?!"

"Where _were_ you?! You said you were right behind me!" Maggie countered quickly. "I thought one of them had killed you when I ran, you could have been dead!"

Alex shook her head. "I checked their uniforms and took some stuff. It looks like weapons and transmitters – figured we could use them one way or another if we were cornered. But… that _guy_ – I don't like him."

"I don't like him either, Alex, it seems far too easy – but he's giving us a hand here. We _have_ to trust him."

"The _hell_ we do." Alex shook her head. "We can't trust _anybody_ here on this planet. It's just us, and we have to get home soon."

"Why would he go through all of the trouble to act friendly when he could have shot me on sight?!" Maggie shot back. "He could have held me at gunpoint and ordered me to get in the truck anyway!"

"We don't know _anything_ about this race or this planet." Alex huffed. "Until we _do_ , we can't trust him. We'll go along with him, but I'll _never_ stop anticipating him stabbing us in the back. He can fucking drive us into the palace and hand us to those militant rebels on a silver platter!"

Maggie licked her lips, already feeling a headache coming on. "Okay, okay. This isn't the ideal plan, but _walking_ to the palace and breaking in is a whole other thing, alright?! Let's just see how far this gets us. If we shoot him and go on the run again, we'll be dead in less than hours. They'll find us – you heard him."

Alex sighed, nodding slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. This is the best plan we have."

Maggie reached for her hand to link their fingers briefly. "If he can get my shoulder and your hands fixed, that's one step forward. As long as we keep taking steps forward, we're closer to getting back home."

Alex smiled weakly. "Okay."

Maggie laughed, reaching forward to rest her forehead against Alex's. "I love you, babe."

"You too." Alex leaned in to steal a quick kiss, before the two of them headed outside, towards the truck.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Maggie and Alex reached the truck, the soldier popped his head out from the back of the vehicle, holding a syringe-like weapon. He raised it ostentatiously, and looked at them.

"Medicine. It injects nanobots that can heal broken bones and repair damaged skin."

Maggie glanced sideways, feeling Alex stiffen next to her. Truth be told, she herself was a bit wary of the needle at the end. After all – the soldier _could_ attempt to kill them like this. Or inject a tracker, at the very least, without them knowing.

"Are you sure this is safe for us humans?" Alex broke the silence.

Daghmar shrugged. "I have never encountered humans. But if it consoles you, I can put it away again."

Maggie shook her head immediately, and stepped forward. "I'll take it. I'm sorry about her, Daghmar. She's not a big fan of needles."

She practically felt Alex's glare burning holes in the back of her head, but she ignored it, in favor of smiling weakly at the alien. Daghmar nodded, and raised the weapon. "You may feel some discomfort or pain. It will be over soon."

Maggie gritted her teeth, raising her injured shoulder for him to reach. She heard Alex's sharp intake of breath as the needle was raised, and only felt sharp pain the second after that.

She winced, pulling her head back and clenching her eyes shut, bracing against the pain in her shoulder that seemed to spread outward, to her fingertips and toes.

When her entire body felt like it was on fire, the needle was retracted, and Maggie found herself hunched over the hood of the truck.

Immediately, Alex was by her side, holding her by the waist and making sure she didn't topple over. She couldn't meet her wife's eyes, but knew that she was radiating concern. "Hey… Maggie, you okay?!"

"… Fine." Maggie took a shaky breath, and flexed her shoulder experimentally. Surprisingly, the pain was completely gone. As was her headache, and pretty much every other pain she'd felt from the encounters in the last few hours.

She felt excellent.

"Thank you, Daghmar." She turned to the soldier. "I feel better."

He smiled. "It was my pleasure."

After that, he turned to Alex carefully, apparently not wanting to provoke her. "Will you be alright?"

Alex's eyes found Maggie's, who shrugged weakly.

 _They were pretty much fucked already, might as well be fucked while healthy._

As Alex stepped forward, raising her hands, Maggie found her footing again and walked around the car, looking around.

Being out in the open like this wasn't good. And they might have some sort of corrupt soldier on their side, but that would mean nothing if a squadron of soldiers was headed their way.

She turned around just in time to see Daghmar tucking his syringe away again, and Alex balling her healed hands into fists, eyes wide at seeing them unblemished.

"Time to move."

"Get inside the back. When the time comes, I might need you to stow away."

Alex and Maggie got in the backseat without hesitating, as Daghmar started the truck and drove off.

Maggie turned her head to stare out the window, but Alex tapped her on the thigh to gain her attention. When they made eye contact, Alex raised a small device she was holding.

"What's that?" Maggie mouthed in confusion. Alex pointed to the back of her neck, and then to the soldier in the driver's seat.

Maggie understood. Alex had looted one of the other soldiers' language converters. But it didn't make any sense – weren't those things embedded in their brains? It wouldn't be of much help for either of them…

Alex seemed to follow her confusion, because she shook her head lightly, tucking her hair behind her ear to reveal an earpiece.

Maggie nodded silently. But Alex didn't seem to be finished, digging in her pocket to reveal an identical device, putting it in Maggie's lap.

The detective reached for it, and tucked the small earpiece in her right ear. Alex looked satisfied.

The timing couldn't have been better, because Daghmar reached for his radio in the front seat, and clicked it on.

"Delta Niner Five, heading towards the palace. There was an ambush by rebel forces, my unit was killed. I am the only survivor _."_

Maggie and Alex shared a look. He hadn't said anything about them. If he wanted to set up a trap, he could have mentioned that he had two hostages.

After a few seconds, the radio creaked to life. " _Copy that, Delta. You are cleared for access. General Ahrmyn wants a personal debrief._ "

"Understood. Over and out."

Daghmar lowered the radio and turned back to them. "I shall make a call, see if we can get a connection set up as we head for the palace."

He pressed a few buttons on his console, before another call connected. After a click, he spoke again. "General Ahrmyn!"

The voice on the other end of the line did not sound amused. " _They tell me that your mission was a success?"_

Maggie frowned. Surely, having your entire squad incapacitated couldn't be counted as a success…?

"There are two humans, from planet Earth." Daghmar replied. "They took out the rest of my squad. We are en route to the palace."

Her stomach turned upon hearing the words. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw Alex tightening her grip on the gun.

" _Planet Earth? Where we sent Vasyl?_ " Came the response. " _Why did they come here?_ "

"By accident, apparently. A portal sent them here, they are lethal but they don't mean any harm."

" _Bring them to me. We can arrange their travel back if we can get word out to Vasyl. Maybe we can start transporting._ "

 _Transporting_ … Maggie repeated the words in her mind. And suddenly, it all clicked.

Were Daghmar, and whoever he was talking to, secretly part of the rebellion? Helping refugees escape underneath the nose of the regime?

It would make sense that he'd let them live upon hearing they belonged to a planet they depended on so dearly in those desperate times. If anything, it gave him all the more reason to keep the both of them alive.

Alex seemed to have come to the same conclusion, because the grip on the gun slacked just slightly.

"Understood. I'll walk them into the palace as hostages to avoid attention, and get them up to the transmitter on the top floor. Can we meet at the safe place in thirty minutes?"

" _I shall meet you there. Good luck._ "

With that, the call was disconnected, and Daghmar looked behind him. Maggie immediately faked interest, pretending that she hadn't understood the entirety of the conversation. "And?"

"We have a way to get you back to Earth, but it will not be easy. You will have to pretend to be prisoners, so I can walk you into the palace safely. You will be under my protection, and I promise you no harm will come to you."

Alex, who had stayed quiet throughout the entire car ride, now leaned forward. "We'll do it."

Daghmar pressed a button on the dashboard of the truck, and a compartment underneath Alex's feet opened up.

"Take what's inside, and bind yourselves. The ties are magnetic, you will not be able to force them apart."

Alex gingerly reached for the shackles, and carefully wrapped them around Maggie's wrists. Instantly, the metal clicked, and her hands were bound. Alex eyed her. "Not too tight?"

"It's fine." Maggie shook her head, watching as Alex reached for another chain. "What do I do with my gun, Daghmar?"

"Give it to me. I will give it back to you once they can't see us anymore. And I will need you to take off your vests."

Alex didn't seem thrilled at that prospect, but realized he was right. They'd never accept a hostage that looked like they could blow up the palace in a heartbeat if they wanted to. Both her and Maggie needed to look as frail and weak as possible.

Maggie used her bound hands as best as she could to help pull off the vest, leaving her completely exposed. After that, Alex returned the favor, before tossing the gun into the passenger seat.

From what they heard during the radio conversation, Daghmar could be be trusted for now.

And upon seeing the large palace appearing in front of them as he turned a corner, the time for hesitating was up anyway.

Wordlessly, Alex clicked her own shackles in place, and braced herself against the seat, sending a quick prayer to whatever was up there that they'd make it off this planet alive.


End file.
